Alone in Abu Tor

A couple of years ago I found myself working as an artist on a new animated film being made overseas. Although the movie's creators were Californian, the money behind the film was Israeli, and the principal investor had a much cherished vision of creating a vibrant arts and culture hub in the unlikely location of Jerusalem. Dour, Stoney, Combustible, Contested Jerusalem. I kept a sketchbook diary of my times there, and Pesach seems like a good place to start: Having grown up a secular Jew, I am fairly well acquainted with how endless your normal seder can be. Wise to this, I was pretty determined to dodge whatever invites were extended to me by my new work colleagues. A two-hour seder with one's family is one thing, the four-hour version with devout strangers being quite another. All I really wanted to do during the long Passover weekend off was eat, sleep, read and maybe go to the beach...